Remembrance
by wallflowermiu
Summary: I heard somewhere that when we die we have seven minutes of brain activity left in us before we are completely gone. In these seven minutes it is guessed that we relive our entire lives in our brains. I guess this is the start of my seven minutes ne? OC. Violence and Death. Pairings may or may not come in later chapters. The original plot line will be changed around.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. **

**Warning: Violence and possible language**

**OC**

* * *

Tears dripped down from my eyes. The sword slowly pulled out of my chest. I spat blood in the face of my killer and smiled. My task complete I closed my eyes and collapsed onto the ground as distant voices called to me.

I vaguely felt the healing chakra that was being pumped into me but it felt so distant.

This was not the first time I've died, oh no. I have experienced it before, would you like me to tell you?

I heard somewhere that when we die we have seven minutes of brain activity left in us before we are completely gone. In these seven minutes it is guessed that we relive our entire lives in our brains. I'm not sure how true that is but I guess this is the start of my seven minutes ne? Better get started then huh?

* * *

I was born and raised in the Land of Snow. It was a lovely place as long as you didn't mind hardly seeing anything green. The land was barren and cold but it was home. We were a small family, just my parents and me. I had a feeling that I had more family out there somewhere but being a child I never really thought to bring it up.

I was hard working as a child, cause I wasn't going to be helpless for long. Something must have triggered this drive since I was born to a relatively normal family. I can't really remember anything important to explain why I felt as though I really needed to become powerful I just knew I guess.

Maybe it was admiration from seeing how awesome ninjas were in action. It might have been just having ninjas for parents. Or possibly being overwhelmed with how small and insignificant I was compared to the adults in this world. Maybe the harsh world that seemed to surround me from a young age. Whatever the reason I was driven for some sense power.

Bless my parent's souls that they took this in stride and decided to nurture my drive for power and control, but they were relatively average.

One thing I was thankful for was that my parents were ninjas and were more than happy to teach me little tricks to get a head start on the ninja lifestyle. They helped me stay very flexible and train my fingers to move quickly and easily. When they were home they taught me to find my chakra, they hadn't done much work with controlling it though.

During the day my parents had missions and duties that they needed to fulfill around the village, but they were home today.

Going to the market was always fun. Layer upon layer of clothing had to be put on me first though.

"Kaa-san I can barely breathe." I whined.

"Shhh no child of mine will freeze to death."

I sighed and gave up as she tied a second cloak around my neck. It had become our ritual to say this every time we left the house. Which was only a few times that we actually did leave the sanctuary of our home.

Snow coated everything all the time and if you weren't careful you could be up to your waist in snow. Unfortunately for me being a small four year old child I would sink up to my neck.

Learning how to move in snow was learned quickly. Being cold and wet was typically not enjoyable meaning you learned quickly to avoid it. Little bit of balance and chakra and you're set to go. It was just something you learned to do when you lived in the Land of Snow.

We tromped along me holding Kaa-san's hand into town, her walking slightly ahead of me.

We came into our favorite clothing and fabric store. Much to my surprise though she went to the very, very small section on warm season clothing.

"Kaa-san, why are we getting weird cloths? They don't look like they will keep you warm."

"Because they are meant to help keep you cool." She replied as she began rummaging through the clothing.

I frowned at this, why would anyone want to be cold? I spun this thought around and around in my head but it just didn't make any sense to me.

"Why would we need to be cold?"

She crouched down to my level and held my hand. "We are going somewhere where it is very warm. Now hush I'll explain more latter."

I frowned a little more at this but nodded my head choosing not to speak.

She went back to rummaging through the rack holding cloths up to me and eye me and after she had discarded most of the rack she settled on a few outfits.

We grabbed some fabric rolls from the other side of the store and went to pay for what we had gathered.

The lady at the counter gave us a funny look but didn't comment.

We got groceries next making sure to get things that could be preserved.

The next two days before we left my mom spent preserving food, making clothes, and packing. I tried to help as best as I could, but only ended up underfoot much of the time.

* * *

_Time skip~~A week later_

The main land was very hot, and I mean very. Sweat was rolling off of my small body and all I was doing was riding on the horse with my mom.

"Kaa-san where are we going?" I asked finally breaking down wanting to know what was going on.

"To some family." She replied.

"Why? I thought we had no family."

"How about I tell you a story?" She quickly deflected my questions with her own.

"Sure!" I grinned though I didn't like her ignoring my question.

She smiled fondly down at me before refocusing on the road.

"A very long time ago there was this ninja family and they loved their clan and village very much. One day though their village was attacked. Being the good ninja's that they were they fought back and defended the village very nobly. Sadly though they were highly overpowered."

"Oh no!" I piped in horrified.

"Yes, oh no is right. The ninjas decided to save as many as they could and they retreated. The people from the village spread out amongst the lands spreading far and wide."

"Do they find each other again?"

"Only a few found each other. But most were as far away as the stars." My mom looked very sad as she said this.

"There, there Kaa-san it was only a story." I said worried as my mother rarely showed me this kind of face and it scared me a little.

"Mirai, you must know that every story carries within itself a kernel of truth."

I nodded at this revelation given to me. I thought long about this until I fell asleep to the rocking of the horse.

* * *

I awoke with a start. We were moving quickly through the trees now. There are so many trees here all clumped together and covered in leaves. It was so amazing how masses of trees and bushes, (bushes are a whole other line of thought not for now of course), stretching on and on for as far as the eyes could see. I have come to love all the trees.

It was scary I couldn't see my dad anywhere. I tried to get a better look around but my mom clutched my face tightly into her chest.

"Kaa-san! Kaa-san!" I screamed as I looked at her pained face as we fell from the tree.

She twisted in the air now having me on top of her before we slammed into the earth. I could hear her wheezing under me.

I felt the air shift around me as we were substituted away.

"Hide sweetie." She whispered gently as she pushed a small pack into my hands. I obeyed numbly not knowing what else to do. Kaa-san was always right and always knew what to do I'll be ok.

Looking around I found some large roots and wiggled underneath them as much as I could. I pulled in some dead leaves trying to block as much of me from sight as possible.

I managed to peak out through some of the leaves and tried to locate Kaa-san.

What? Why is she holding me I'm over here? I wanted to call out to her but she started running away in a new direction than the one we had been going before. I could see kunai sticking barely sticking out of her back just as she started to move away.

She would come back though. Kaa-san was always there. Tou-san would find us too he was never too far from Kaa-san.

I waited for them to find me. I didn't know what happened to him but I hadn't seen him before so I prayed he was still out there.

* * *

**Author's note**

**Okay so this is my first story so please be patient with me. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! **

**Warning: Violence and possible language.**

* * *

It had been a week and my parents still hadn't shown up. Thankfully nobody else did either. I didn't have much food left and very little water. My parents had drilled me relentlessly in wildlife survival (they were ninjas after all and we were in the middle or a trip to another country).

I had stayed in my hiding spot under the roots only coming out to quickly use the restroom then return to hiding. I focused hard on making myself invisible by rubbing dirt all over me to mask my smell, staying as silent as possible, and even doing like Tou-san had taught me and made my presence as tiny as possible. I wasn't foolish enough to believe that I was perfectly hidden or that I was very good at making my presence tiny, but since nobody had found me I kept it up.

With less than a two days' worth of food left (I had been rationing as best as I could, only nibbling on the food to keep the hunger down instead of eating a meal) I knew I needed to do something soon.

As quietly as I could I moved the leaves back so I could crawl out. I bid goodbye to my hiding spot thanking it and the tree for letting me take refuge there.

Now to decide on a direction. I could go in the direction that Kaa-san had running in with me in or I could go in the direction she had gone after she had left me behind. I could go in the direction she had been running from. I quickly disregarded this idea knowing it to be too risky. What if that's where the ninja were from after all?

Well the most logical choice would be to go in the direction we had been running before I was left. I wanted to go to Kaa-san though.

A few tears streaked down my face as I made up my mind. I looked sadly in the direction I would not be traveling before setting off.

* * *

_Several hours later_

The sun was starting to set now. I knew I needed to find a place to sleep but did not want to stop. My feet were covered in blisters and my arms and face covered in scratches.

That's when I saw it, lights. They glistened beckoning for me to come. It was a village, a very small one, but a village none the less. Tears streaked down my face in happiness at the sight.

The building closest to me was set back from most everything else from what I could see. A sign on the building quickly told me what it was, an orphanage.

I considered the building. It would have food, warmth, a bath, and people. This last part was worrisome but it was unlikely I would get the rest without running into people.

My mind set I walked up to the door and knocked. A kind older looking women answered the door gasping at how dirty I was. She accepted easily that I was lost and that I was sure my parents would come for me soon. She told me that I could stay for as long as I needed with sad looks on her face. I suspect that she thought that I was an orphan and was probably another permanent addition to the place. I felt bad for lying to the elderly owner but I knew I couldn't tell her the truth, besides Kaa-san and Tou-san would find me soon.

* * *

A week passed by slowly, I had taken to a small library of donated and collected books in a small close to keep me entertained. I loved reading a lot. Knowledge was important.

I didn't avoid the other children but that didn't mean I would go out of my way to talk to them. I spent much of my time in my small shared bedroom reading with a few of the other shy children. Most of them also knew how difficult it was to be the new kid, so they said nothing to me. They all simply let me work through my emotions and decide when to talk.

I did have one friend. A little girl had taken to me. I wasn't too sure what her name was but I think it was Kana. We would sit together at meals and I would read to her. She talked very little, usually she just pointed at something she wanted to have or go do. She had even started to squeeze into the already small room sometime in the night to sleep beside me. She didn't say anything so I said nothing in return, we would just curl up on the bed and go to sleep.

It was sometime in the middle of the night (I know I should have been sleeping), but instead here I was reading some interesting scrolls I had borrowed from the library waiting for my friend to show up. I didn't understand all of what the scroll was talking about but I was trying hard to piece it all together and understand. That's got to be worth something.

However tonight it wasn't my silent friend that had opened the door, instead it was a man. I couldn't make out his features very well in the dimly lit room and I didn't have enough time to anyways. He had noticed that I was awake immediately and appeared in front of me suddenly stabbing something into my arm.

Before I could make a noise my entire body relaxed and I slumped over. Arms scooped me up as I sank into oblivion.

* * *

I blinked into consciousness looking around with confusion. My whole body felt heavy.

I tried to reach up and rub my eyes only to discover my arms strapped down on a table.

The room was poorly lit and I could hear a dripping noise somewhere nearby. It was very cool making me wish that I wasn't in my thin nightgown. I managed to get a good enough look at the ceiling and walls to decide I was inside a cave.

I turned my head to discover two children strapped down to their own tables. Both were scruffy looking and from what I could tell very pale. I wasn't very sure on their gender too hard to tell. There was a man standing next to the child on the end. He had dark hair and was also pale.

A gasp escaped my mouth as I watched in horror as the man jabbed a needle into the child's arm. My stomach knotted and my throat closed up as the child began screaming and slamming their body around on the table as best as they could.

The man frowned and began walking over to me ignoring the child.

I tried to shrink into the table and wished desperately that I had the ability to turn invisible.

When he got to the edge of my table my stomach plummeted. There playing with some needles and creepy looking bottles full of liquid.

I was officially screwed I just knew it.

The man looked up and smiled evilly when he caught me staring. He walked up to my side and stabbed me with the syringe.

I immediately understood what the other child had felt as screams began escaping me.

Fire was racing threw my veins and I wanted nothing less than to claw my arm apart. I yanked desperately at my straps as the fire crawled through my shoulder up my neck and across my chest.

The pain was excruciating and the world around me was tinted red.

_Nomorenomorenomorenomore LET ME RIP MYSELF APART _

It was too much and I blacked out.

* * *

**Author's note:**

**She is smart for her age part of this is from her reading a lot.**

**She is not with who you think she is with. ****Her name will also be revealed in the next chapter...maybe.**

**I do have a name for her I promise. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto. **

**Warning: Violence, death, and possible language. **

* * *

I awoke on the floor of a dark and damp cell. Despite the cool air I felt on fire and I quickly saw why. My entire skin was slightly puffed up and extremely pink.

"You're unlucky." A voice whispered.

I immediately scooted away from where the voice had sounded and whipped my head in the voice's direction.

Curled up in the corner was a grimy looking six year old. Their face was sunken in making their cheek bones seem to pop out.

"If you don't already then you are going to wish that you had died instead of waking up."

"Where are we?" I whimpered already knowing the answer.

"Hell." The child responded.

I closed my eyes letting a single tear escape before I opened them again.

"My name is Shin." He whispered after a few minutes of silence.

"I'm Mirai."

Before we could proceed the sound of clattering made both of us snap our mouths shut and scoot as far as we could into the wall away from the cell door.

A new man's face peered through analyzing us from a small slot near the top of the door. He was slightly tanned and had light brown hair.

"Oh so you actually lived little girl. My Lord will be pleased." He sneered down at us.

A small loaf of bread was thrown in threw the slot and the man left. We listened as his footsteps retreated down the hall.

Shin crawled over and grabbed it and ripped it into two parts. He let me pick which half I wanted and we slipped into silence.

He crawled over and sat next to me against the wall again. Somewhere along the line we fell asleep curling into each other for some warmth and a small sense of safety.

* * *

We were jolted away by the bread man grabbing Shin by the hair and dragging him away from my side and out of the cell. He kicked and swung his arms not even fazing the bread man.

"If you manage to live please don't forget me!" he shouted as the door was slammed shut.

I listened with tears streaming down my face as the sound of him being dragged away faded away.

Shin didn't come back the same.

His face was sweaty and he wheezed with every breath. I tried to comfort him but his skin was like touching fire.

Tears streamed down my face when he finally opened his eyes. They didn't seem to focus on me but I was just glad he was awake.

"Kill…me…please" he coughed wetly and was sent then into a wheezing fit choking for some air.

"No, you'll be ok I promise. You'll be ok." I said more to assure myself than him. It didn't work very well.

"Please…end this" he choked out.

I felt like throwing up and I was sobbing now. I sat next to him feeling waves of anger, sickness, worry, and sadness crashing around violently inside of me.

His eyes looked at me pleadingly.

Gingerly I cupped his face apologizing between sobs and twisted his head sharply.

_Crack_

Immediately his wheezing and sweating stopped and his body relaxed.

I snapped his neck. I had just killed my friend. My emotions churned inside of me.

I managed to turn in time to throw up some half digested bread and acid onto the floor near me. I hacked violently for a few minutes before turning back to Shin. The color was rapidly disappearing from him.

Ignoring the sticky sweat on his body and the retreating heat, I hugged him tightly and cried into his thin shirt.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

* * *

I spent the next week, or at least what I estimated to be a week seeing as how there was no sunlight or real sense of sound in the cell, in solitude.

The solitude was only shattered when the man entered and grabbed me by my dark purple hair and throw me across the cell away from Shin's now cold body. He grabbed Shin's arm and dragged him out slamming the door shut. I didn't bother moving from where I had crumbled down on the floor from my impact with the wall. I was too numb to move.

Every other day a stale slice of bread was thrown into the cell.

At the end of the week the bread man opened the door and grabbed me by my hair and proceeded to drag me out of my cell much in the same way that Shin had. I didn't bother fighting back though my entire body was completely relaxed.

So this is it huh? I wonder what I did to deserve such a terrible life. Maybe it was that I was a terrible person in a past life.

I winced as I was yanked onto one of the lovely tables with straps again. My wrists and ankles were tied down again.

I stared with dead eyes at the syringe in his hand. I realized that I wanted to die. My parents were dead. I had killed my friend. I wanted nothing more than to die.

No time to dwell on that though the fire was racing in my arm again and spreading quicker than the last time.

My vocal cords ached as screams erupted out of me.

I sank into darkness after a few minutes.

* * *

The process repeated for several weeks. Each time I was dragged away I hoped it would be my last. He made sure to switch arms every week leaving both of them covered in scars.

New forms of torture were tested on other days. My head would be dunked into ice water until I almost passed out, but never long enough for me to actually do so.

This time I was strapped down my head was too.

One strap across my chin another across my forehead.

Another man was here too. This man poked me with a new syringe and quickly my body relaxed despite my brain yelling for it not too.

He placed his fingers on my eyelid and forced them wide open.

He gave a sickening laugh/snicker noise and inserted a needle into my eye. He drew something out before then inserted a new needle into my eye and injected something.

After repeating the process on my other eye he then injected something new into my arm.

It felt as though ice was pushed through my veins. Joy new feelings. My body was so relaxed that I couldn't even scream this time, I had to settle with just passing out when the pain became too much for my tiny body to handle.

* * *

_A couple weeks later_

I now was subjected to a new form of torture, a maze. It solidified the image of me being nothing more than a lab rat to them in my mind. I had to find my way through the every changing maze. My time in the maze was brutal and would leave me extremely exhausted.

I had to use everything I knew to survive in there. I had to make it to the exit quickly and if I was taking too long or kept going in the wrong direction I would be punished.

I learned that the punishment was also part of the test. After I had accidentally blocked against the fire after going into a dead end, they decided that they wanted me to dodge or counter the attacks all the time, or at least that's what I assumed.

All I had wanted was to not get burnt. I just wanted it to be stopped, to be blocked by something, anything and that's what happened. I could feel an enormous drain of chakra as a large wind collided with the fire being shot at me. If I didn't respond correctly then I would keep receiving punishment until I did so it was a decent guess to say they wanted me to fight back a bit.

The punishments varied, didn't want me getting numb to a certain punishment I guess. Sometimes it was water dumped on me other times it was a jolt of electricity. Worse days had fire.

If I went into a dead end the ground would shake, crumble, or shoot up and down into uneven terrain. I was expected to respond immediately every time. I had started getting good at stopping the ground when it started to crumble.

It was just like any of my other days off from my torture where I waited in misery curled up on the floor with my tangled and matted hair splayed out hiding my face beneath its grim. Then I heard this very soft noise of stone rubbing on stone.

Having nothing better to due I pushed myself over to where the noise was coming from. Looking closely I could see a very small piece of folded fabric placed in between two loose stones.

Carefully I took it out and unfolded it.

There was a note written on the fabric in blood. I was familiar with this form of communication. Over the past week or two I had received several of these notes. The writer claimed her name was Hana and that she was a couple years older than me about eight or nine. She had told me the story of her parents and how she ended up here.

I blinked a few times as my stomach sank and carefully I reread it.

_This is my last day in this wretched world, I'm going home to see my mamma and papa at last. I pray that whoever gets to read this note will live and be happy. I don't know who you are or even if someone will read this but whoever you are I will watch over you and I want you to know that even though I don't know you I truly, truly love you._

I stared at it blankly. I read it over and over before carefully refolding it and clutching it too my chest. I had viewed her as a friend as we exchanged notes back and forth.

After going through the maze so many times I could see hazy outlines of chakra signatures a bit around me. I struggled to hold back tears as I focused on her signature.

Hana flung herself head first against the wall . I watched as she struggled up and repeated the process and I could hear the sickening crunch of her skull on the wall.

Finally she collapsed limply on the floor and she did not get up.

Hana's chakra slowly faded into nothing.

I closed my eyes and curled up feeling completely numb.

* * *

**Author's note**

**Really long chapter and it ****was awful, I know. Don't worry it gets better. You can only go so far down in life before you start heading back up.**

**I did steal the note idea from V for Vendetta don't hate me.**

**She won't be getting any spectacular sensing ability this is about as good as it gets. Her range right now is about the size of a room and even then it's not reliable at all.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, except for Mirai.**

**Warning: Violence maybe language.**

* * *

I could hear metallic clangs in the distance and cell doors slamming open but not closing. After each door slamming open a new scream would follow. Something was very wrong. They never tortured in our cells.

My cell door was suddenly thrown open with more force than usual. It was the usual man that fetched the children and brought them to be tortured.

I could see a cell across the hall with its door wide open. I couldn't see anyone's chakra except for the man's, not that that counted for anything.

The man ran over and pulled out a needle.

I had a feeling that if he injected me I would die. I wasn't afraid of dying, not anymore at least, but that didn't mean I wanted him to kill me either. It would probably be painful, or at least not pleasant.

I hoped that help was finally here because for the first time I fought back.

My arms and legs began kicking and flailing about.

He looks really pissed now but I won't back down.

Unfortunately for me though he easily managed to grab one of my arms and yank my body around causing me to fall onto my stomach. He quickly sat on top of me pining my legs under one of his shins. His other knee was pushing into my back.

I winced but I've felt worse pain.

He grabbed my arms that were swinging around wildly trying to land a hit and stretched them out straight across the ground in front of the top of my head.

Just as he jabbed me with the needle his body fell limp over my body.

Closing my eyes I felt a familiar signature surround me.

_**I told you I would watch over you, and this all I can do for you directly. All I can do now is cheer for you on the sidelines.**_

I looked at the open doorway to see the chakra of a sun exploding moving through the hall. I quickly wiggled Hana's note out from its hiding place between the stones in the wall.

The sun chakra entered my cell allowing me to see an unfamiliar face. I couldn't make out the features very well but I could see enough to tell it wasn't familiar to me. I realized he was moving toward me and I tried to smile as best as I could. The sun's arms were lifting me up off the floor.

"Hold on okay? " We were moving quickly away from my cell. I tried to look for my neighbor's chakra signatures but none were appearing.

_My head hurts and I'm so tired maybe just a quick nap_

"You did good Hana." I wheezed out and sank into comfort for the first time in a long time.

This of course didn't last long, my luck wasn't that great yet. There was rain pattering down on me. So of course this caused me to drift back to full awareness that we now were outside of the cave.

"Medic!" Mr. Sun yelled.

I was place on the wet ground and Mr. Sun drifted back as two new people buzzed around me.

I felt chakra buzzing over me a moment before it started being pumped into me. It felt very soft and warm and I couldn't help but sigh in bliss. I tilted my head over to see Mr. Sun talking a few feet away with someone.

This must have been the wrong thing to do because upon realizing I was awake I was unceremoniously knocked unconscious.

* * *

Wait why is the floor so soft all of the sudden? How did I get blankets? It's warm…that's weird.

Carefully I opened my eyes. Too bright. I snapped them back shut. I pulled some of my tangled hair over my eyes to help shield some of the light.

I opened them very, very slowly and only a little bit at a time trying to adjust them somewhat to the light. It took a while but I managed to open them to a squint and still be able to see a bit.

Slowly my eyes drifted around the room.

There was a window to my right where sunlight was drifting in. Two nurses were chatting happily to each other about going out for lunch as they walked into my room. I quickly closed my eyes forcing myself to relax and appear to be asleep.

Should I talk to them them? Ah well I'm sure they can't be worse than That Man might as well talk to them.

I carefully squinted my eyes back open and located the nurses. They were standing by some machines double checking my IV.

"Excuse me?" I tried to sound confident but it came out broken instead from my dry throat.

Immediately they snapped their full attention to me and began buzzing around me messing with the IV line I was hooked up to.

"You should rest for now dear." One of them cooed.

"You'll have company in an hour or two who will answer your questions. So rest for now." The other chimed in.

Well guess I'll just have to wait then.

And wait I did, well at least until the nurses had slipped out of the room.

Time to investigate. While I was in the maze traps were everywhere so I started taking notice of everything no matter how small. I practiced in my tiny cell too. I was conveniently placed on the very end of the row of cells so to pass the time I would stare through the walls and watch the other kids trapped there.

I stopped this after a short time because I quickly found out that most of the other children were replaced after a few days. Many couldn't handle the injections and would have horrific reactions.

I was hoping the observational skills would be of use now.

Slowly I pulled my blankets off and pulled my feet around to dangle down the side of the bed. I tried my best to slide down the side but my weak little arms betrayed me and I landed roughly. Stumbling forward a few steps I swung my arms around to try and steady myself and accidentally bumped my IV pole. I shot my hand out again and grabbed it pulling my body and the pole into a standstill.

I glanced around and set to work, after all I probably didn't have much time before somebody showed up again. There were no mirrors so I couldn't see how terrible I looked yet_. Such a shame_ I was _totally_ looking forward to that.

One foot in front of the other, come on, got to get around somehow.

Pulling the IV pole along with me I worked my way around the bed and over to the window.

Buildings. I squinted through my hair trying to make the buildings out a bit better but gave up when that didn't work. Looking down I discovered I was on the second story.

I stood there for a few minutes taking in the sights and watching the small flow of people that would come in and out of the building every once and a while.

I looked around checking to see if the rotten color of the man or his minions was within sight to rip this dream apart.

Upon not seeing them outside, I sighed just a little bit. I slowly turned around expecting to perhaps see one of them hiding in my room.

"Eeep!" I stumbled back a step or two bumping against the window.

I was not ready to actually see two people standing inside my room. So much for my observational skills.

* * *

**Author's note**

**So she's free~ Or not. Guess we'll find out next chapter huh?**

**Any guesses who's there?**

**No more torture for a while...probably.**


	5. Chapter 5 re-upload

**Ok so I realized as soon as I published this that I forgot to put the disclaimer and stuff in here so yeah...I'm a little scatter brained.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...yet**

**Warning: read with caution**

**Beta: clueless1164 **

* * *

I was drawn out of my inner panic attack when the women raised her hands up slowly, palms facing me. My body flinched on instinct and my eyes stared at her hands, following her every movement, preparing for an attack.

"My name is Tsunade and this is my assistant, Ren." She spoke softly and didn't move from her spot, only pointing to the man next to her when she introduced him. "We don't want to hurt you, we just want to help you feel better."

I blinked at them a few times but did not relax my form. My last captors had never talked to me before. Normally they would get straight down to business and begin torturing us. If they talked at all it was only to each other, exchanging a few words then going back to torturing us. I still didn't trust them though.

"You were found in an underground bunker and were infected with a severe poison that was ripping your chakra network to shreds. You are also severely underweight due to prolonged extreme malnutrition. We've been keeping you on an IV to hydrate you. It would be best for you to at least sit down since you are shaking and look as though you are about to collapse." The woman intoned gently.

What she said was true. My frame was weak and shaking from lack of proper nutrition. They were being rather gentle and nice right now and in my experience it was better to do what someone wanted quickly rather than put up a fight. Fighting the inevitable would only tire me out and I needed to have some energy to dodge them when the attacks would come.

Carefully I grabbed my IV line and wobbled my way over to the bed, never taking my eyes off of them. When I reached the bed though I realized I wasn't going to be getting up as well as I had gotten down.

The bed rose up to my chin leaving me barely peaking over the top the mattress. I lifted my arms up and grabbed hold of the bed and pulled myself up. My feet connected, pushing me up with the bed frame and mattress. Once I was up on the bed I looked back over to where the people were, noting that they still hadn't moved yet.

"Can we check you over? I promise that if you let us I will answer some of your questions." the lady spoke gently.

Carefully I weighed my options.

I didn't really want either of them anywhere near me. What I really wanted was to be as far away from all other human beings for the rest of eternity but I doubted I would get that wish granted. I did want answers to what was going on and where I was.

So I could go alone with them and let them do whatever they wanted. After all they weren't outwardly trying to kill me yet so maybe I might be safe. They might not be _so_ bad…

I could just wait untill I had a chance and run as fast as I could as far as I could.

Or I could fight them with all my strength and probably get myself killed in less than ten seconds.

That was pretty much what I could choose to do and none of them seemed very appealing as I was likely to get tortured somewhere in each of them knowing my luck. Out of all of them though it would just be easier to go along with them since I didn't exactly feel like putting up a huge show of a fight, that and it usually escalated in violence.

Reluctantly I nodded that it was ok.

Tsunade slowly walked over to me stopping a foot away from my bed.

"My hands are going to turn green and I'm going to place them over your body and check you over. It will be painless, I promise."

I didn't really believe her but I was resolved to wait patiently for my answers and chance to escape.

Her hands glowed green and ever so slowly she took the last step forward and place her hands just above me. I was tense waiting for electricity to shock me or maybe for her to set me on fire or something. Nothing happened though. She frowned a little but made no comments.

Every fiber of my being said to slap her hands away and make a run for it.

"It took us quite a while but I think that we finally got the poison out of your system. You moved the IV in your arm, likely getting on the bed. Your body is very weak and you shouldn't be moving around too much. I'm putting you on a strict soup diet until further notice and you need to drink lots of water." She said after a minute or two as she slowly put her hands down.

I stared silently at her, thinking for a moment.

"You c-can fix t-t-the thing." I whispered shakily extending my arm toward her. Give a little and sometimes you get a little. Besides it felt really weird in my arm since I had messed it up a little when climbing on the bed.

"Thank you. You will likely feel some discomfort." She took my arm in one and adjusted the IV line with the other hand. It felt weird but not painful.

"W-Where a-a-am I?"

"Konohakagure." She replied releasing my arm.

I had a feeling of wrongness at her statement but I had no clue why so I simply ignored it for now.

"W-w-what d-do you w-want with me?" I felt fidgety. I really didn't like being around other people all that much.

"We don't want to hurt you." She answered instead, calming my fears only a little.

We fell into an awkward silence for a while.

Finally she tentatively broke the silence. "Can I ask you a few questions now?"

It was only fair that she wanted to know; after all I was a stranger that they seemed to know nothing about. I still needed to bide my time and it would be easier if I was given some room to breathe. Ever so slowly I nodded for the women to proceed.

"Do you know what your name is?"

"Ano, m-my name is Mirai." My voice was so small.

"Do you know where you were or who you were with?"

I shook my head looking down at my lap.

"Do you have any family?"

My throat squeezed shut at the thought of my parents. I could still remember my mom running away from me, it haunted my dreams. Unfortunately their faces had started to grow fuzzy in my head and that scared me more than anything. Vague shadowy forms of them were all that was left in my mind.

"I d-don't know. I haven't seen them in a long time." I fiddled with the thin blankets on the bed trying to ignore the tears welling up in my eyes.

It seemed like the weight of everything was pressing further and further into me. I hadn't cried in a long, long time. Even when the torture became too much to bear the tears failed to come. They had run away from me after all. One can only cry so much before there is nothing left. But now it seemed that they had returned, the little traitors.

My bottom lip quivered a bit before the shaking spread throughout all my limbs and finally my whole form was shaking. I saw the genuine concern in her face and it just became too much. I cried.

Not that silent tear thing where you vibrate a little, no. Instead my body was shaking violently by my gut wrenching sobs. My face was covered in tears and snot in seconds. I tried hiding behind my arms, shielding my face from view. If you show them weakness they'll exploit it, everyone did.

Much to my surprise I felt a soft hand on my shoulder causing me to jerk away on instinct. My eyes snapped over to see the women crouched down with a mixed look of pity and sadness.

I didn't trust these people not by a long shot, but it was hard to completely hate them with faces like this.

She didn't try to reach for me again, she just let me cry. When I finally calmed down she told me that she was going to be back tomorrow and to try and have a good night's rest.

Though I was exhausted I couldn't sleep very well. Every time I drifted off I became paranoid that someone was watching me or I was about to be attacked. Needless to say when the lady returned the next day I looked worse off than before.

Tsunade checked me over the same as she did yesterday and talked to me for a little bit. She was careful to give me plenty of space and not to spend very long with me. This became a routine and continued on for a week, only tacking on her telling me I should eat all of my food. Which I might add is impossible as it made me feel like exploding. When I told her this she said she would adjust the meal but I still had to eat everything I was given.

I have several working theories on the food. It was all I could really think about and keep me somewhat contained. Nothing else to do anyway.

Three times a day they would bring me soups and soft foods. They did this every day. Somebody sat in there and made sure I ate all of it and didn't choke. The first time they brought me a meal I was completely taken aback by the sheer amount of it. Granted I've been living off of stale moldy bread that was given to me once a day, but still. It was a large bowl of soup.

My leading theory is that it has something in it. No clue what but something must be in it.

Second theory is that they were stuffing me because they were going to not give me any food for several days.

Last is that they were torturing me by giving me so much food. Yeah, didn't make much since to me either.

I was spent almost every day completely alone. I was used to this, but there was always noise. Whether it be the dripping of water or the sound of people moving around there was some sort of noise. Here there was none of this, it was super silent, and it made me twitchy. I looked forward to her visits a little bit. She was nice and it gave me some noise.

When she introduced me to her friend I was more than a little apprehensive.

The guy was super white like a corpse with dark black hair. His clothing was a white shirt with black pants. He gave off a snake vibe and seemed to be scrutinizing me the whole time. I immediately felt uncomfortable with his presence but there wasn't much I could really do.

After I met him I didn't see him again for a couple of days but after that he started coming every day. He never tried to touch me and he was very polite when talking to me. I was starting to become a little more used to his presence.

Finally I was desperate for answers, even if they might be from the creepy looking guy.

"What is w-with the food?" I asked immediately as he entered.

"Why, hello again." He said as he shut the door. "Whatever do you mean?"

I totally wasn't buying that confused look on his face. At least I think I saw confusion, maybe it was amusement.

"Is it a new f-form of torture? Stuff me with so m-much f-f-food I can't d-do anything? Or is it p-poisoned?"

"I assure you that there is nothing in the food. We did not mean to startle you with proper meals." He looked slightly amused at my confusion. That's never good.

I just eyed him cautiously.

"Tsunade thinks that you are ready to leave the hospital soon." He commented, quickly changing the subject on me.

I stared at him. What?

"If I'm leaving t-the hospital w-where will I l-l-live?" I fidgeted nervously. I didn't know what happened to my family and I had no friends (none that were living anyway). I didn't really want to go to an orphanage (I have a deep paranoia of them now) but I didn't really have a choice in anything.

"We have decided that you will be released into my custody. You'll be coming home with me tomorrow." He gave a smile at this.

Smiles looked rather creepy on him but I don't think he was purposefully trying to scare me. Of course I couldn't really tell with him.

"Ano…thanks?" It might be a little premature since he could totally beat me up or poison my food or cut off my limbs or something but oh well.

"It is settled then." He promptly turned and left leaving me totally confused.

What the hell just happened?

* * *

**Author's note: Ok so as I said before I'm scatter brained. (It's really bad) I wanted to upload the chapter sooner but my internet is weird. Sometimes it won't let me open up anything in Fanfiction. Like it won't let me search or pull up my favorites, nothing, just absolute nothing. It does the same with my email, so I get to see all the lovely updates on stories but can't open the mail to click on the link so then I have to google the story...yeah long story short my computer is part of my soul and therefor loves to torture others. So I shall not be committing to a specific update date. **

**My lovely beta pointed out to me that I love to switch from first person to third person and back again without warning. I'm sorry I'll try to behave I promise.**

**Last of all my followers: I love all of you soooo much! Gives lots of cookies and cuddles. Shhh I'll never let you go. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I still have yet to own Naruto**

**Warning: Language**

**Beta: clueless1164**

* * *

Orochimaru let me change by myself and I was now wearing a light long sleeved green shirt and black pants. The shirt seemed to drown me and my pants were very loose. After much grumbling my feet were also covered in shoes. Thankfully they were open toed so I could wiggle my toes around. It just felt strange having something other than cold hard ground under the soles of my feet.

Tsunade insisted that I wear some special sunglasses. Apparently because I had been in the caves for so long my eyes couldn't handle strong lights. So when I thought my room was bright it was actually rather dark with special seals causing they lighting in the room to be a lot dimmer than usual.

As much as I didn't trust Orochimaru and Tsunade, I trusted everyone else even less. My reasoning for this was though Orochimaru was totally weird and gave off strange vibes he had yet to hurt me, which at this point was all I really wanted. Tsunade had made me feel stronger, seemed nice, and also had yet to hurt me in any way. They also told me what they were about to do and rarely made sudden movements.

I decided to settle back onto my bed to wait for someone to come in (no way was I gonna risk opening the door it could be trapped or something). Also I found it quite unlikely that they would make it that easy for me to escape.

After a few minutes I was surprised to see Tsunade enter instead of Orochimaru.

"I just wanted to make sure that your cloths fit you ok and see if you decided if you wanted to cut your hair."

Tsunade had been teaching me all about personal hygiene and apparently it was normal to wash your self, brush your hair and teeth (not with the same tool), and change the clothing you wore everyday. None of these had I ever done. Strangely enough by doing them they made me feel lighter and better. I had yet to get my hair smooth and tangle free though. Apparently not brushing for a long time was not a good idea, we were still picking rubble and gunk out of my hair.

So Tsunade had suggested that I cut most of it off and making it easier to take care of. This would mean I would have to trust her incredibly close to me and with a sharp object. I had tried asking if I could just cut it myself but she had said they couldn't trust me to not try and hurt them.

"I don't trust you to not stab me while you're that close to me." I whispered honestly. I felt a little ashamed for saying it after how nice she had been to me but I still just couldn't fully trust her.

She looked very sad at this but nodded her head in acceptance.

"Your clothes are still swallowing you whole and these are the smallest I could find. I found a clip that will hold you pants up though. You loop it through your back belt loops and then button it." She said pulling out a small band of leather and demonstrating in the air how to work it.

I took it carefully and put it on. It pulled my pants together in the back making them not as loose on my waist.

We both turned at the knock on the door to see Orochimaru entering.

"Is everything ready now?" He asked politely.

"Yes, make sure she eats, does some muscle building exercises, and takes care of herself." Tsunade replied.

When we set off to his house I rapidly became paranoid and self conscious. People kept shooting us glances and bowing politely to Orochimaru. I had no clue who he was, but I was getting the impression that he might be kinda important around the village. Everyone seemed really tan compared to Orochimaru and me. I didn't realize it when I had first seen Tsunade but Orochimaru and me were very, very pale. Both of us stood out against the tan villagers.

All this only made me feel even smaller in my large clothing.

I was still trying to figure out why he would take me in. I had some theories on it (of course none of them were very good).

His house was on the edge of the massive village set back in the woods a bit causing it to be surrounded by tall green trees.

After showing me around the house a little, he told me that I could busy myself with whatever I want and that he would be in his study. I didn't believe for a second that he was actually doing something in there. I knew that he was probably keeping himself well hidden to stop me if I did something he didn't like, or to just attack me.

Instead of sticking my nose where it probably didn't belong I simply checked every nook and cranny of my room for traps. I have absolutely no clue what would have happened if I actually found one but I didn't need to worry about that since I didn't.

Dinner was slightly awkward since I couldn't remember when I sat at a table eating a meal with another person. Orochimaru made a healthy looking meal, in fact it was probably perfectly balanced. He made no comments to me so I made none to him, though I did notice him watching me carefully. I might have brought that upon myself as I had sniffed my food for obvious poisons and then had continued on to check for a bomb or something. Yeah, I'm a little paranoid but when you get very little food and usually it's poisoned in some form or another you tend to get that way.

After our meal we went into the back yard where a large greenhouse sat filled with tons of plants and herbs. I knew very little about plants other than a few I managed to identify as potentially poisonous, which I stayed away from. Orochimaru walked around water plants here and there but I'm sure he was keeping an eye on me, as I was on him.

When all of the plants were taken care of we returned inside and retired for the night. I of course did not sleep well in my overly soft bed and warm blankets. Sometime in the middle of the night I settled on the floor with one of the thinner blankets.

* * *

We quickly settled into a schedule. In the morning after breakfast I would do light exercises to bring my muscles up to a healthy condition. My exercises consisted of lots of stretches, a small jog around the house, and about five push-ups before I would collapse and do some cool down stretches. I would go inside change clothing and practice writing.

Orochimaru had been a little upset (this I gathered from his ever so slight frown) over the fact that I lacked the ability to read and write very well. I figured out quickly that this was because he loved knowledge and hated ignorance. So he gave me some basic books and a chart of the alphabet. He was not a great teacher; mostly he gave me tasks to complete and would examine them for accuracy. It was incredibly difficult. He was the kind of teacher that made you solve your own problem rather than actually give you the answer.

After completing several pages of practice reading and writing, we would have lunch. We would then run errands around town for a few hours before more self-study. Before long dinner would roll around. Afterwards more exercise, care for the greenhouse, a bath, and then bed.

It was hard to stay overly paranoid for several months, but I'm proud to say I did stay exactly that way. Not once over all these months did I stop checking my food or room for poison or traps. Though I was exercising every day, I did not work myself ragged just in case I needed to make a quick escape. I was still a bit jumpy when I heard a noise or thought I saw something.

When Orochimaru finally commented on all of this he simple said that while I had plenty of good habits for a ninja, I lacked the skills and discipline of one. I _still_ had no clue how to take that. It was good that he didn't see me as a threat and needed to kill me. At the same time, though, he didn't see me as a threat and therefore could likely beat me up in a heartbeat.

This routine was only broken by my once a month check-up and any emergencies that Orochimaru had to help out with.

Today happened to be one of those days. I got dragged along with him of course but had to sit in an uncomfortable room full of chairs with a lady and probably some hiding guards. I didn't delude myself into thinking that they fully trusted me after all. Plus any time I got up out of the chair I felt eyes watching me from the shadows.

Finally after what felt like forever Orochimaru came out of his meeting and we set off toward home. The sky had been really cloudy and dark all day and it was really setting me on edge. We didn't say anything, just content to walk along in silence back to the house.

Suddenly I felt something hit my arm causing me to jump. I looked around only to see little water droplets falling down from the sky. Immediately I began dodging as many of them as I could. It didn't work very well as the intensity of the droplets falling increased, causing me to shriek in terror. My fight or flight response kicked in and I dashed off to the one place I felt somewhat safe in: the house.

My ex-captors found me! I was doomed! I knew I couldn't trust them here to keep me safe! They were out to get me too!

I slammed open the front door and bolted up the stairs, down the hallway, and into my room. I jumped onto my bed, hyperventilating. I was going to die! They finally made their move and I was going to die! Dead! That was me! Dead! Totally Dead! My life is over! Goodbye world, you sucked anyway!

"Mirai?" Orochimaru asked cautiously.

My breathing hitched before resuming its irregular pattern. I hugged my knees to my chest as tears streaked down my face.

I'm dead dead Dead DEAD DEAD DEAD

A loud noise sounded and the house shook, causing me to scream.

"Please don't!" I yelled covering my head for a possible attack.

Orchimaru gave a little jolt of surprise and I noticed he was trying to reach out to me. I screamed again, pushing myself away from him. I saw him yank his hand back. Somewhere between my gasps for air I could hear him saying something to me. His face looked concerned but it was all a play! He was going to hurt me too, I just know it!

The house shook as another rumble sounded.

I couldn't stop screaming. I just sat there curled up in a ball, screaming in terror. Orochimaru, looking slightly scared, bit his thumb and slammed his hand onto the floor. With a pop a snake appeared, causing me to jerk back, slamming into the wall.

First the water. Then the loud noises. Now they were going to finally kill me with a snake!

The snake looked ready to attack me when Orochimaru said something that I couldn't hear, causing the snake to slither off quickly.

My body twitched and jerked at every tiny movement I saw. For whatever reason Orochimaru was still standing there, speaking softly with his hands in the air.

HIS BODY LANGUAGE MAY SAY HE MEANS NO HARM BUT HE WAS TOTALLY GOING TO KILL ME!

What seemed like hours later, though it was probably only a few minute, Tsunade came bursting into the room.

OH GOD THEY'RE GOING TO TAG TEAM ON ME!

"What the hell did you do to her?!" Tsunade questioned grabbing Orochimaru by the collar holding her other fist up ready to punch him.

"She just took off running to the house as soon as it began raining. When I followed her up here she was already like this." He replied, panicked. "What's wrong with her?!"

"She's having a panic attack. Now shut up and sit over there." She pointed across the room to my desk chair. Turning her attention to me her features softened and she lowered her voice to a more soothing pitch. "Right now everything must seem really scary, but you are going to get through this. Nobody is going to hurt you, I promise. Have I ever broken any of my promises? We're not going to move until you tell us to, okay? What I need you to do is to stay in the present with me and concentrate on your breathing, okay?" She stayed at the edge of my bed, hands up, palms facing me. Her words were calming, but I still felt extremely high strung. She was right though, she had never broken any of her promises to me. A very small part of me wanted to trust her and that's what I latched onto. It seemed like the only glimmer of light in the dark thoughts racing around in my mind.

"Breathe in. Hold it. Now breathe out." She intoned softly pausing to let me hold my breath for a second. She repeated the breathing exercise with me slowly, and I could feel my nerves settling back down ever so gradually. It was hard to settle down, and I jumped and started to panic again every time I heard the rumble. After several minutes, and many partial relapses, I was finally calm enough to listen to Tsunade explain to me what was going on.

What happened was I was so worked up and waiting for some sort of attack to come, that I was basically a ticking time bomb. So when something finally happened out of the ordinary I exploded, over rain. In my defense I barely remembered what rain was, so when I finally saw it again I didn't actually know what it was until I was reminded.

The loud noise I was hearing was thunder, which was a result of lightning. Lightning was electricity coming from the sky and would sometimes hit the ground. Thunder was the sound of the electricity cutting through the air. When the lightning came down nearby the thunder was just so loud that it shook things, such as houses and the nerves of little girls. It was the start of the rainy season so I needed to be prepared for a lot more falling water droplets.

Bless Orochimaru though because I think my panic attack really scared him. I don't think he really knew how to comfort anybody. That's not to say he didn't try though. He put up silencing seals all over the house so that way the thunder wouldn't scare me. On the worst days he would make me some soothing tea and we would sit together in one of his studies and read. He also began teaching me all sorts of things, ranging from different weather conditions and the clothing best suited for them, to the best ways to research things. He said that if something ever scared me again to find him or Tsunade because they wouldn't let anything happen to me. I didn't want to believe him but his eyes said that he really meant it and that he cared, even if he didn't know how to say it in words very well.

I still didn't put my whole trust into this place, or the people as they likely had some hidden plans, but even just a little I trusted and even liked Orochimaru.

* * *

**Author's note: So timeline wise it's just after the 2nd Shinobi War. (2-3ish years) I'm approximating on the dates/years with Tsunade and Orochimaru so far since I couldn't find exact dates for some of the stuff I needed. Plus I'm not planning on following the plot line exactly anyway.**

**Q: Isn't Tsunade a hemophiliac at this point?**

**A: Yes. Tsunade is still a really capable medic she just doesn't do the whole blood thing, therefore she can cure poisons and such. (as you may have noticed there has been zero blood involved when she is around) Tsunade isn't a halfway attitude kind of person, therefore she would likely stick around long enough to make sure Mirai is healthy but would excuse herself if blood got involved. I'll probably explain better why she healed her in the first place.**

**Q: Isn't Orochimaru a little too out of character?**

**A: Orochimaru would be about in his early 20's at this point. For my purposes he isn't super obsessed with experimenting yet. He does experiment he just isn't completely taken over and testing on people yet. He is still awkward in talking and dealing with her if you haven't noticed.**

**Q: She's being trusted a bit much isn't she?**

**A: At this point Orochimaru hasn't betrayed the village and they haven't gone through the third war yet. She's also 6 years old and they found her starved, beaten, poisoned and near dead and she was in a coma for several weeks after they found her. If Tsunade wasn't so awesome at countering poisons then she would have died. So I really don't think that they would see her as a huge threat. They have also kept her under surveillance for several months. It may not seem like it since I didn't put in anything super obvious, but why else would Orochimaru be home with her for several months? No, he wasn't standing there watching her every move, but when you want somebody to slip up you give them just enough room to hang them-self with not crowd them and alert them. When someone can tell they are being watched they aren't going to do anything, they are going to be super cautious. **

**Orochimaru is a Sannin, and more than capable of watching a 6 year old possible spy. (chakra networks aren't even fully developed till children are about 9 from what I found)**

**So here is a human experiment, he wants to know more about it obviously, and they need someone trustworthy to keep an eye on her and make sure she isn't a spy or a ticking time bomb. Orochimaru would totally be all over this opportunity.  
**

**His actions/reactions in this chapter are from that fact that I think that he would be completely unable to sooth/comfort anyone, especially a child. While yes he is a sadist I don't see him enjoying someone start freaking out over what seems like nothing. Besides he's responsible for her and he hasn't gotten all the research out of her that he would like, so a psychotic break wouldn't be appreciated at this point.**

**Thanks for reading so far~**

**Sadly I am not a mind reader yet so I would love for you to tell me your review, comments, or questions.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Warning: language and violence**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Sorry guys my beta proofread but I'm kinda in a jam so I'm just throwing this at you un-edited anyway. Sorry in advance for any mistakes!**

* * *

Today was a decent day so far. Although it was still raining, it wasn't as heavy as it had the days before. It had been raining for the past week, so I couldn't do my exercises outside anymore. I had to settle for just doing them in my room instead. Breakfast was the same meal as usual, followed by our usual reading and researching in the downstairs study.

It was during lunch that things took a turn. Orochimaru told me we were going out to meet somebody new today. By nature I trusted nobody, especially when they were someone knew to me. But Orochimaru said it was my last step in making sure I was all better, so reluctantly set out with him after lunch to our meeting.

So here we are now, trudging through the rain which was not fun. Orochimaru doesn't like listening to complaints, so I said nothing.

Thoughts raced around in my head. I wonder what kind of person we're meeting? What if I'm not any better? What if this is a trap? What if it's some super important people and I mess this all up? I've seen the way people respect Orochimaru what if he decides I'm not worth the trouble and gets rid of me? Nobody would stop him…

"Mirai." Orochimaru said shaking me from my thoughts.

I realized quickly that we were no longer outside, and were standing outside of some important person's office.

"Just remember your breathing exercises, it will be fine." He said waiting for me to make eye contact before gently placing his hand on my shoulder and ushering me inside the office.

A middle aged looking guy was sitting at a desk that was covered in papers. There was a pipe resting in his mouth and a large hat on his head.

Another middle aged looking man with blond haired man stood next to the desk.

"Mirai this is the Hokage, leader of the village," Orochimaru gestured to the man with the large hat. "and this is Inobari Yamanaka an associate of mine."

The leader of the village? What if I was in trouble? I don't want to go back to the cell. Orochimaru may look weird but he was so much better than my last captures. Tsunade was kind and brought me new cloths and made me nice food. I don't want to leave.

"Have I done something wrong? I promise to be good. Please don't take me back to them. I promise to be good. Please I'll do anything just don't take me back, please."

Orochimaru put his hand on my shoulder signaling me to be quiet.

"We aren't going to take you back. We just want to make sure you aren't a threat. Yamanaka-san just wants to run a mental evaluation on you." The Hokage said soothingly.

"It won't hurt too much will it? I'll do anything as long as I get to stay." I pleaded.

"I promise it won't hurt. Can you sit down for me please?" The blond man asked politely.

I carefully approached the chair sitting a few feet from the desk, eying it for booby traps. I likely would have sat in it even if I did see a trap on it, because I really didn't want to go back to the cell.

"I'm going to put my hands on your face and look into your mind, alright?"

What? I didn't want anyone in my head, but…but I really wanted to stay here. He said it wouldn't hurt. Orochimaru wouldn't let them hurt me would he?

"Mirai, it will be ok. It will only hurt if you fight him. Just practice your breathing exercises." Orochimaru spoke breaking me from my inner worries.

That's right I can get through this. I'm a survivor, I will not be beaten down by worry.

The blond man was now kneeling in front of me. I nodded that it was ok to proceed. I closed my eyes not wanting to watch whatever was about to come.

Breathe in. Hold. Breathe out. I will live.

I felt well-worn hands on the sides of my face and before I could flinch I suddenly felt as though I was floating. I opened my eyes to see myself now in a dark space. Cracks of light crawled all over the empty space. The air smelt heavily of earth after a freshly fallen rain.

"It's very lonely in here."

I spun around to see the blond haired man standing in the dark space.

"Where are we? Are you here to hurt me? I promised I would be good, I don't want to go back!"

He put his hands up in the universal "I mean no harm" stance.

"We are inside of your mind. You can change this place whenever you want. Would you like to try?" He asked cautiously.

I nodded slowly. If this was my mind it was very sad looking, and I didn't want it to look like my last prison. I wanted to be free of that place.

"Imagine light and happiness. Think of what you want this place to look like. It will only be an illusion but if you work hard and think more positively it will look better in here in no time."

He said encouragingly.

Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. What happy thoughts? Focus. Happy thoughts.

I thought of eating the nice food Orochimaru makes for me. Of Tsunade shopping for clothes with me. I thought of walking through the greenhouse taking care of plants. Sitting with Orochimaru reading on rainy days.

Slowly the cracks of light spread, growing larger and larger as they moved.

Through the cracks I could see patches of grass and blue sky peeking through.

"You don't want to strain yourself, so be careful." The blond spoke breaking my focus. The darkness quickly started eating away at the light, as paranoia and distrust for the man before me filled my thoughts instead.

"Would you like to walk around a little?" He looked to me like he was going to walk around with or without me, and I wanted to keep him in sight (he was in my head after all), so I followed him.

As we walked quietly through my mind scape, I tried to catch a better glimpse through the cracks of light. Unfortunately I couldn't see anything more than patches of grass and bits of clear sky.

"Ah, here it is." I quickly stopped what I was doing and refocused on the man to see what he was doing.

We were now standing outside of a worn metal door. Bad vibes seemed to roll off of it in large waves. No cracks of light came close to the door and the nice scent of wet earth was no longer clinging to the air.

The air felt heavily and no words could describe the horrible smell. If darkness had a smell I'm sure it would be what I was smelling now.

"No, I don't think we should go in there." I called out trying to warn the blond man from opening the door.

"It's ok, nothing can hurt you in here unless you let it. You're a strong girl and Tsunade would never let me live if I let you get hurt. We just need to look inside real quick." The man said soothingly trying to reassure me.

"I don't know about this. Maybe we should go back instead." I tried again, but it was too late his hand was already on the handle.

As soon as he opened the door we were sucked in by the darkness.

Panic filled me instantly as memories began replaying all around me. I tried to look away but they surrounded us completely. They rotated around us spinning slowly upwards. At first they were hazy images of my parents smiling at me. They quickly transformed into the image of my mom running away from me with kunai hilts sticking out of her back.

Torture soon replaced this. I watched as I met Shin and he died in my arms once again. As they injected me with various serums. My stomach twisted inside of me as I watched myself stumble through the mazes. Sadness overwhelmed me at the memories of Hana and me writing notes back and forth on tiny pieces of our clothes in blood, our small proof to each other that we did exist. Sobs erupted from me as I watched Hana smash her head in again.

Nonononononono I don't want to see this! Happy thoughts! Yes, I can do it happy thoughts!

I desperately tried to think of Orochimaru and Tsunade.

At first the images around us began speeding up before they flew into a frenzy, whipping around us violently, but never touching us. They slowed down again now revealing them to be memories of Tsunade checking up on me at the hospital and at Orochimaru's house. Orochimaru circled around us cooking, reading, and teaching how to read and write better.

The images slowed before edging back and floating around us, waiting for one of us to approach them.

"You should go now." I spoke softly not wanting to awaken the images.

"I just want to look at a few more closely." He said brushing off my concern.

I wasn't about to reawaken my past hell again and no way was I about to let him.

"No, you are leaving now." I spoke firmly and with every bit of my will power I pushed at him.

"You will look at my past no more! We're leaving!" I commanded.

The metal door appeared again and we flew back out of it. I was not satisfied yet though. How dare he make me relive that hell again. I said I would do anything but go back to that, and where did he take me? Right back to it all. No he would play around in my head no more.

Darkness was quickly overtaken by red as I forced all my anger and hurt at the blond man.

"Go away!" I shouted flinging him from my mindscape.

My eyes flew open and I gasped for breathe. I vaguely felt the hands being removed from my face. I wasn't satisfied with flinging the terrible man from my mind though as I quickly began yelling at him before switching to Orochimaru and the man with the big hat.

"I said I didn't want to go back! Why? Why, did you take me to them anyway?! I hate you! I said I would be good! All I wanted was to not go back! How could you do this to me? Why would you let him?"

Somewhere in my yelling I had risen from my seat and I turned to face Orochimaru. None of them even bothered to look ashamed of themselves. The man with the hat simply looked at me thoughtfully. The blond man look slightly startled but quickly put on a mask of blank emotions across his face. Orochimaru at first looked slightly shocked to see me yelling so loud and talking so much but nothing other than that.

I started pounding my tiny fists into his tummy.

"Why did you let him do it? Why didn't you do something?" tears streamed down my face and my questioning reduced to incoherent sobs. He easily caught my tiny hands and held them firmly in his.

"Mirai, I couldn't see anything that went on. He was inside your mind I could do nothing. We just wanted to make sure you weren't a threat to the village." He said calmly.

Why did I trust him? Why did I open up my heart? He's just like them in the end I'm sure. Yet a small part of me still wanted desperately to trust him.

He gently released my hands obviously wanting to get away from my crying. I wasn't going to let him escape that easily though. He may have failed to protect me this time but more than anything I still wanted to believe that in his own awkward way he cared about me. My arms shoot out again but this time they wrapped around his torso.

Orochimaru stumbled back a step caught unaware of my new line of attack. I pushed my face into his tummy feeling his lean muscles through his shirt.

"Mirai, what are you doing?" Orochimaru questioned in a strained voice as he awkwardly put his hands on my shoulders.

I knotted my hands onto the back of his shirt.

"Mm mnn." I replied rubbing my face into the front of his shirt jostling my goggles enough to let some of the built up tears onto him.

"I think it would be best if we conclude this meeting for today." The hat man said.

Knowing that it would be difficult to escape with my hugging Orochimaru's torso, I switched to hugging just his left arm. Not missing a beat I began pulling us to the door.

He made some noise of protest and tried to pry me off of him without making too much of a scene in the hallway. I knew how much appearances mattered to him so reluctantly I settled for holding his hand instead.

I whipped my face on the back of my free arm much to Orochimaru's displeasure. The villagers stared at us even more than usual. With our ruffled clothes (from me wiping my face everywhere), my blotched face from crying, our usual pale skin, and the very strange hand holding from the very unamused Orochimaru, we got a lot more stares from the villagers than we normally do. I could just see the hell he was going to put me through teaching me tomorrow, but feeling the warmth of his rugged hand in mine totally made it worth it. I just hoped my encounter with the men from today wouldn't come back to haunt me later.

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**Author's note: So as I said before this isn't edited very well (at all really), I'll explain why in a quick update I'm going to post. I'll probably go back and replace this later with a better revision. **


	8. Hiatus

First off I want to thank all of the followers and people who have decided to favorite my story thus far. You guys are beautiful! I would give you a hug, but sadly we are separated by computers. So...lots of air hugs.

Third of all, I'm not at my house right now, I'm helping my family with a lot of personal stuff. So because I'm not at my house I don't have wifi (I'm currently typing this up as quickly as I can on someone else's computer). This means no updates for a while. Thankfully I had already uploaded the last chapter to the doc manager, even if it isn't proofread very well, I wanted to post it before I disappear for a while. I'm really, really sorry about this! I have no clue when I'm going to be back home but I'll try to update no later than the end of July. If I can find a flash drive and the motivation to stay up really late to use someone else's computer while they sleep, I'll update sooner than that. Sorry again for this, but sometimes life happens.

I promise to update as soon as possible, so please don't beat me and/or run away!

Lots and lots of love~

**Edit: Great news, I've managed to access a local wifi network! Though I still won't be able to work as much on my story due to family stuff, I'll try and update the next chapter in a week or so. It's likely going to be a filler chapter from Orochimaru's point of view. **


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own Naruto in my dreams does that count? My beta says it doesn't count. So sadly, I don't own Naruto.**

**Beta: clueless1164**

**This one is in third person Orochimaru's view. **

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Orochimaru was meticulous. He loved having everything planned out and in its place. More than anything though he enjoyed knowledge. His goal was to master all the arts. Everyone respected his genius throughout the village, but they kept their distance. He was pale and looked different even before he got his snake summoning contract. His team-mates were tolerable at times, but Tsunade was prone to extreme violence and Jiraiya was far too laid back for his taste. They never bothered to really get to understand him anyway.

His thirst for knowledge led him to joining the Research and Development Department, but it didn't seem to satisfy his thirst.

It was just a normal border patrol when they found something suspicious. Afraid it might be a hideout for a possible foreign attack group, an infiltration team was quickly gathered and deployed to investigate. None of them were prepared to stumble upon a lab and not a military bunker.

The top two levels were incredibly maze like and filled with traps. Strangely the third and fourth floors opened into an actual maze with an observation deck over it. On the end of the observational deck was a large room with several tables equipped with restraints. There was knocked over cabinets and research data covered the floors. The bottom level was three rows of back to back cell blocks mainly filled with dead children. Only a few of the children were alive when they reached the level. Fighting had broken out on various floors due to ambushes from unknown shinobi, causing them to reach the floor too late for many. A man was moving from cell to cell injecting the children with an unknown substance.

Several were rushed to the surface to the medics, but most were lost.

He was very curious about the research and experiments that had been conducted. It was easy to cover up his curiosity by using his job as an excuse to access most of the documents. His lust for knowledge was fueled further when he found out some of the children managed to survive.

It was unknown the extent of what had happened to them or if they were a threat to Konoha or not. The children would need to be monitored and if need be dealt with if they were a threat. It was decided that it would be best to separate the children and see if one of them would slip up, if they were an enemy spy. After hours spent day after day pulling strings and trying not to beat some sense into that insufferable council, he got what he wanted. He was a little disappointed in the fact that he would not be allowed custody of all three children, but at least he got his hands on one. He would work on getting the other two later of course.

The little experiment girl, Mirai, was not what he expected. Granted Orochimaru had little experience in childcare, he had only babysat a few brats back in his gennin days. The children wanted nothing to do with him though and often cried if he got too close to them. This left him to stay back and let his team-mates do most of the work. It was all long behind him though.

When he first saw her in the hospital she was extremely thin and sickly looking. Her dark purple, almost black hair, was a tangled mess. Her eyes were those of a frightened animal. Part of him wanted nothing more than to toy with her and to experiment on her. He knew he needed to gain her trust though, and that would be difficult enough with how most people treated him on instinct. It was also unlikely that he would be permitted to conduct experiments on her either.

He wanted to laugh when the experiment girl asked him about the food. She had a terrible stutter that he would need to quickly work out of her speech. He hated when people stuttered it was a sign of weakness, and showed that they were insecure and unreliable.

After some rearranging with his schedule, he came back as often as he could. The girl would be living with him after all, it would be ideal if she trusted him. That way he could see if she would be a suitable pawn, and get plenty of research material off of her.

Observing the girl had been quiet enjoyable since they started living together. She was incredibly paranoid, and was careful to check everything for poisons and traps. Even over the span of a few months she never let her guard down.

She was clearly driven to better herself, as she exercised twice a day and worked diligently at reading.

He was appalled when he first saw the sad shape of her reading and writing. It was sloppy and often times unrecognizable, things that quickly needed to be taught out of her. So, he taught her how to properly do them both. He even set up a study across the hall for her to use. It would only make things more difficult for him if he waited until she was in school.

Her skin and eyes were way too delicate. Her hospital room was always kept at a dark level, though she complained it was too bright on several occasions.

He had made the mistake of letting her come with him outside once without a long shirt, and her skin quickly developed a terrible burn. Tsunade nearly had his head for that. He developed a seal that would prevent sunburns afterwards, he needed to wait till he would be allowed to apply it on her though. He also went ahead and developed a seal to help her with her eyes. It would hamper training and possibly missions for her to burn every time her skin was exposed to the sun. Or if she were to damage her goggles in a fight.

He couldn't leave her unsupervised, and it was interesting observing her when they went out.

Tsunade thankfully brought her clothes, and checked on her health often. He harbored no desire to go clothes shopping with Mirai. They would likely have to stop every few feet for her to check her surroundings for traps or hidden enemies from all the staring they would receive upon entering the store. He would also have to find something practical for her as well. Civilian clothing was not practical for all the training he was planning on putting her through.

It was on a simple outing, for some boring meeting that he had to attend, that her first incident occurred.

It was the start of the rainy season and the clouds that morning showed it. He had noticed that she was jittery the whole way to his meeting, but that wasn't too out of the ordinary for her. It was on the way back when things went downhill, and fast.

She startled him a little when she began jumping around. He almost started laughing when he realized that she was trying to dodge the raindrops, almost. What stopped him was the very real panic in her eyes, it was then that he realized that she thought she was under attack. He was temporarily stunned when she shot off towards the house and to her room.

While a part of him was amused by the whole situation, but he knew he needed to quickly gain control of her. The first thing he noticed was the sound of her irregular breathing and the sight of +

panicked state of her chakra as he followed her into the house. When he entered her room he saw she was hyperventilating and crying. He was never any good at comforting others, and it certainly showed now.

She was always so contained, not once had she cried since she got here. He knew most people enjoyed a hug or something of that sort, was that what she wanted? When he started reaching out to her though, the house shook from a large rumble of thunder. This caused her to start screaming. When she noticed his frozen arm half reached for her, she associated him with the noise and screamed even louder. She backed further into the wall, trying to get farther away from him.

She was screaming out repetitively that she was dead and this caused him to panic.

While he did enjoy others suffering to a certain extent, he did not enjoy small children screaming at him. Especially this one. What if she was broken and he couldn't get any more research from her? He hadn't even gotten to see if she had any abilities. Tsunade was going to beat him senseless for this.

Tsunade!

Quickly he summoned one of his snakes. He tried to ignore Mirai's screams of terror as he quickly sent the snake off to get the medic and alert the Anbu patrols that no, they were not under attack.

He then proceeded to hold his hands up and try and calm her a little bit. It didn't work very well, but at least she wasn't screaming at him when Tsunade arrived. Of course she did resume screaming when she notice Tsunade arrive.

Thankfully though after screaming at him and promising his early demise for whatever he did to Mirai, Tsunade calmed the tiny girl down.

He never wanted to experience that with her anytime soon again. The next few days he had made soothing tea and made her sit and read with him in his study, just so he could keep a close eye on her. Plus it allowed him to get caught up on some reading.

In a couple weeks they were going to do a mental evaluation on her and see where her loyalties lay. He hoped that he could get further research from her while she was alive. But if they had to dispose of her, he would take her body to his new hidden research facility. There was too much research that he knew he couldn't get approved if she was a spy, that he needed to do.

He already knew that she wasn't capable of hurting any other person, except in self-defense, but those stupid elders needed to be appeased. She never tried to run away or attack.

He knew she didn't like meeting new people, but would almost certainly be a nervous wreck by the time they got to the Hokage's office, so he simply told her they were going to a meeting.

Of course when she found out she was going to be in the meeting she started worrying anyway. It was funny to watch her inner debates with herself, though he was quick to defuse such thoughts when she started looking panicky. He didn't want another episode, especially on the way to the Hokage's office. He tried to reassure her that it was the last step in making sure she was healed.

While he wasn't a huge fan of human contact, he knew that she would need some form of comfort as they entered the room, so he placed his hand on her tiny shoulder. He made a mental note to do some further research into child nutrition, her frame still seemed rather small. Plus if he was going to begin her training her diet would need to change anyway.

When she started pleading to stay with him, he was more than a little surprised. Nobody ever wanted to be with him, and certainly not children. It made him feel pleased that her loyalties seemed to lay with him. It would make things much easier long term.

He watched patiently as Yamanaka-san scoped out her mental health. If she wasn't too broken he could probably train her. She was young after all, the trauma could hopefully be forgotten. She would be wasted in an ordinary civilian job, if that was decided of her.

He was mildly surprised when Yamanaka-san jerked his hands back and Mirai began crying. She quickly began yelling at Yamanaka before switching her focus to the Hokage and to him. He decided right there that he hated it when she cried, he didn't know what to do when she did, and he hated not knowing something.

While he tried to reassure her that there was nothing he could do, whatever he said wasn't right though. She began pounding her tiny fists into his stomach, and he caught them with ease. He desperately wanted to end this, but he knew calling Tsunade so soon would almost certainly result in his death, and he couldn't while in the Hokage's office. Her making a scene here could cause more problems.

When she seemed to settle down a bit, he tried to take a few steps back and get away from her. She was surprisingly quick though as she wrapped her arms around him and knotted her hands into the back of his shirt.

He could see the slightly amused expression on the old man's face at his clear discomfort. He quickly questioned her to see what she was doing, she mumbled into his shirt while somehow wiping her snot and tears on him. His face was a mixture of un-amusement and disgust at her behavior.

He looked pleadingly at the old man for some help on what to do, which he received in the opportunity to leave. Upon seeing her chance to escape, Mirai switched to clinging to his arm and began pulling them out the door.

Once the door was closed, he quickly tried to figure a way out of her grasp without causing a scene in the hallway for the other shinobi to see. He could easily escape her grasp, but she would like become upset and draw even more attention. So he tried carefully removing her from him. Thankfully, Mirai seemed to take the hint and release his arm. Unfortunately, she started holding his hand instead.

Many people shot them odd stares as they made their way through the village. He was most definitely going to put her through hell in her lessons tomorrow. Although, feeling her tiny hand grasping tightly onto his almost made the stares worth it.

The next week he talked repeatedly with Yamanaka, the Hokage, and the council, till finally it was agreed that Mirai would be Orochimaru's ward and could go about her life as any other citizen. This meant she could also enroll in the academy. Knowing that enrolling her so soon might raise some red flags, he decided to wait until next year to enroll her. Plus it would allow him some time to test her abilities.

Now though, he could start her real training without someone constantly watching.

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**Author's note: Sigh, I miss home. Wait this isn't about me, sorry. ****  
**

**So, I wanted to kinda show thinks from Orochimaru's point of view. Hmm, I think i'm going to do a time skip for the next chapter and stick her in school (which she likely won't be at for long) at least not story wise. **

**Well my beta proofread this, but then I went back and changed some things. So if something doesn't make sense, that would be my fault. **


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